Friday, December 17th was Wright Brothers Day, the 107th anniversary of the First Flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.  Like the rest of Niner Nation, I was distracted and failed to observe the holiday.  That distraction, Charlotte beating the 7th(and currently 18th/19th) ranked Tennessee Volunteers at Time Warner Cable Arena.  There probably isn’t a greater way to celebrate a belated Wright Brothers Day then by beating the university of their namesake, the Wright State Raiders.

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out out this won't work.

Wright State comes in at 7-5, but with a non-Division 1 win and losing to teams like Indiana, Richmond and Southern Illinois.  Winning tonight will continue the 49ers surge in the RPI, perhaps into the Top 200, while simultaneously giving Charlotte it’s first winning streak of the season.  Thankfully for the Raiders, there is not better place to celebrate the Wright Brothers than in the city of the First Flight State with the largest airport, and not in some Cincinnati suburb with a grass runway.  The only thing that happened in Ohio was 2 guys built a big kite, they FLEW in that kite in North Carolina.  The airfoil, the aerodynamic shape behind modern air travel, has nothing to do with kites(which are just sails on strings).  Where the kite was built is ultimately irrelevant, where it flew is EVERYTHING, this is why Charlotte will win.

Predictions: Leave your own in the comments section and you will get a North Carolina state quarter from the Philadelphia AND Denver mint

J Felt: Niners 63, Wright State 58. Niners get their first winning streak of the season.

NLP: Niners have the wright stuff, defeat the Raiders 70 – 64.

The Magic Behind Flight: The Airfoil

C-Pip: The Niners keep up the defensive intensity and find a little more footing offensively, Charlotte 65- Wright State 54

McFly: Wright St. 68, Charlotte 66 – Niners show signs of continued improvement, but nothing major, yet

HP: Not feeling good about this one but in the green spirit so I’ll go with 49ers 68, Wright State 60. Besides, how can a Raider be a wolf?

OddJob: I want to pick the Niners, but I’ve seen the way this movie plays out before…Charlotte 63 – Wright State 68

2k: Niners send the Raiders howling back to Ohio with a 68-59 victory.